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This is what happens when your wife doesn't get the baby girl she was hoping for.

This was not the clearest pic because I had to snap it quickly. We were whale watching in Puget Sound when this Orca surfaced.

No matter which way I spool a spinning reel, when finished I open the bail, prop the rod in something in my garage and walk the line down my driveway, yard or even street and then rewind it on the spool. It is the only way I can g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e there is no line twist from spooling. When changing or retying in the boat I will occasionally feed out a bunch of line (nothing attached) and using my fingers for tension, rewind it back on the spool.

@localhost, Your bass is not a pet. You are a member of Bass Resource. I think that qualifies your bass as an emotional support animal.

Let see here, I got to fish top of the line shimano (in the past) a few days back, they are conquest 50 and scorpion Antares pair with Tenryu rods. Would it make me a better angler? NO becuz I got skunked big time. BUT for sure they make my fishing more enjoyable and also perform better for specific techniques. I still don't understand why ppl have to worry about what other use. Some, money is no object, some best bang for buck and some just wanna fish and don't care about equipment. To be a better fisherman or not only YOU who can answer it. Whatever their pick, kudos to them as long as fishing involved. Buy what you like as long as you enjoy using it or just plain looking at it.

Just put together a new box dubbed "Various Lipless Crankbaits", it consists of different brands of lipless crankbaits, with a good color selection theme for each... WolfyBrandon

It's a 70's-80's era Garland Spider skirt used with single and twin tail grubs. Yamamoto sells them today and incorporated a spider skirt on his Hula grubs. You don't want to fish spider on a jig as a skirt for craws, tubes or grubs unless you want to catch lots of bass. Tom

Sorry for the bad camera quality. My phone get semi wet and for my cousin photo bombing me.These were my best two. We caught a bunch of others but they were 1 to 2 pound males. It seemed like the farther I threw my craw the better the fish was. I was bank fishing and was throwing to some log pilings.Any body else catching decent bed fish?

I usually run about a gallon of gas with 1.5 ounces of SeaFoam through my 225 Ficht, in the tank at 2,000 rpm, every six to eight weeks when not using it. About two months ago I went to do this when it was about 34 degrees outside. It wouldn’t start, and cranking kinda slow so I disconnected the negative cable from the battery, ran jumper cables from a TM battery to the cranking battery and reconnected the negative. Still wouldn’t. I check the plugs and it wasn’t firing. It was too cold to be messing with it so I gave up. Well, about three weeks ago, I tried again when it was a lot warmer and it was cranking over a lot faster. Still wouldn’t start and no fire to the plugs and the injectors were not firing. I’ve been the last three weeks looking for my service manual and diagnostics cable. The wife was happy because now the garage, one of the storage buildings and my computer/junk room are all nice and cleaned now, trying to find that service manual. I said my wife was happy, well that was until I told her that it was looking like the CPU was bad and it was going to cost approx. $700 to get it repaired. She commented “you had better find that manual”. Finely found it today. Started trouble shooting the electrical and saw the ignition/shut down relay was not energizing. Checking the grounding wire from the switches, it was at 3 ohms but when I turned the key off, it went to 0.2 ohms so made me believe the problem was not the ignition switch. I then go to check the kill switch and thought, why is the lanyard laying in the floor? Right there on the floor, with the clip still attached that goes in the kill switch. Put the clip back in the kill switch and the motor started right up. Two flipping months of agony, thinking I was going to have to shell out $700 for a CPU over a simple, dumb problem that should have been the first thing I checked.

Don't feel bad WTS. About fifty years ago I was the general manager of a production woodworking shop. One of the employees told be his drill press wouldn't run. I noticed that the plug was about ready to fall out of the socket. I also saw there was a loose overhand not in the cord. I told the employee that knot was the problem, and that electicity could not go through a knot.. He didn't believe me. I pulled the plug from its socket, undid the knot then solidly plugged the power cord into the receptacle. Told him to try it now. He flipped the switch, and the drill press ran. I don't think I ever told him it was the loose plug that was the problem.

Mailman dropped off this beauty today. Td-z 105H. Now if the 3 feet of ice could melt, we'd be in business!

I went out of Fountainhead on Sunday. Only caught 1 decent bass and 3 other dinks. I'm fishing the BFL as a co-angler on the Potomac this saturday. The cold spring is cramping my style.

FYI - Academy is also running all Zoom baits at 25% off, add the CC201820PCT code for another 20% off - comes out to right at 40% off the original price. That code appears to apply to everything I've tried buying, fyi.

The age old conundrum.....Boat fishermen try to cast as close as they can to the bank and bank fishermen try to cast as far out into the water as they can.

If it would keep her from wanting another baby, I'd buy a whole box of them.

Admit it. You put the bow on the dog. Stop blaming the wife

Preapawn fishing is finally going here, and dang they moved fast. On Sunday the few we caught were mainlake near wintering areas, but by Tuesday (similar results today, except we caught a few more mainlake using the wind) they were 1/2-3/4 back the coves! Not just the buck makes either, out of the 20 we caught in about 2 hours only 2 were under 14" and if 5-6 under 15", good quality fish. Getting them all on shallow cranks close to the bank.

Will a poor quality baitcasting reel make you a better angler? the answer is more obvious, no. Will a good quality baitcasting reel make you a better angler? the answer should be obvious, yes. If you are constantly fighting the reel performance, getting backlashes because the spool doesn't spin freely or gears jam and makes noises your concentration isn't on fishing. Have you ever gotten more then you paid for, not often, more then likely you get less. So the question is how much to pay for good reliable quality? Where to start looking? The answer is simple; between $100 to $200 for a standard size baitcasting reel. Look no further then the top 2 best selling reel manufactures today; Diawa and Shimano. Good quality reels, with annual maintenance, will perform a lifetime. Tom

Here, I’ll save you all a little more at academy on the whopper ploppers. Use code CC201820PCT (found it on Lunkerdeals.com) for an extra 20% off. Brings em to $7.99! Can also pick up a dobyns fury FR705CB for $72! -edit- looks like there’s only one dobyns left. Someone better grab it!

I am not convinced that your rod and reel have a great deal of impact on "catching" fish, but better equipment makes the "fishing" more enjoyable.

The biggest issue with using a baitcaster is that sooner or later the Senko is going to "take flight". The resulting backlash can be amazing! I fish weightless plastics exclusively on spinning tackle.

Started a new job so been too busy to fish lately. And when I have it’s been for crappie. But, Went tonight and got this ~3.5# to swipe a white grub on an under spin.

I would target areas that get the most direct sunlight. Not specific spots but areas. Right after ice out I look for the warmest areas I can find. A couple of degrees can make a HUGE difference this time of year.

I spend my time bank fishing and one thing I have learned is don't give up on the cast and always fish the lure all the way in. I see too many people that I fish with start ripping the lure back in when it's 15 feet or so from shore. Today was a good example. We fished a really murky lagoon. Visibility maybe a foot at most. So I tried some noisy baits like chatterbaits, buzzbaits, and whopper ploppers. Nothing. Switched from darker colors to lighter colors. Nothing. Tried a frog. Tried a jig. Tried a Senko. Zip. Zilch. Nada. One hour in and not a strike. Next was a KVD white and grey spinnerbait. I started my fan casting pattern with a few casts progressively further from each shoreline and still nothing. So next I tossed it deep and fished it in. The sun was in front of me so my shadow was not on the water. When the spinnerbait got about 2 feet out I saw the great beast glide out of the murky depths and it hit the bait 18 inches from shore. He hit it enough and I reacted enough that with my rod tip already down I just slid him onto the bank. OK, it wasn't exactly a great beast but it weighed in at 5.6 pounds and that's a good size for our area. Although - last week I was showed pictures of a 12 pounder and two 7 pounders taken near my father's house nearby. I'll be fishing there this weekend. So the moral of the story is if you're bank fishing, never give up on your retrieve. Fish it all the way to the bank. That should be a no brainer because we know bass feed in close, but sometimes - especially when the fishing is slow - we forget. T

Or worse...

Sure. No problem. Then try a chartreuse color. Followed by Firetiger. If there are crabs where you are fishing, which may not happen due to all the freshwater that has entered the Potomac, go with a Moccasin Blue or a "blue base" plastic or crab imitation. White spinnerbaits may be the answer. Black spinnerbaits or crankbaits may be the answer. Black painted lipless baits may be the answer. Sexy Shad may be the color. What about buzzbaits in white o black? Or dark blue? Remember how bass search for prey: First, by feeling the vibrations in the water; second, by hearing the prey; and third, by seeing the prey. Pick baits that you can mimic how a bass can feel their vibrations and then the presentations they are seeking. However, you have to remember that the Potomac is a "different" type of river with all of its grass. Sometimes a silent presentation, like a Senko or shaky head or drop shot, can work wonders in the grass. I have caught the bass on a pink three-inch Senko on a drop shot rig in between clumps of grass on the Potomac. You have to experiment. Also, learn how to punch through the grass with a heavy weight on the Potomac. Experiment. The fun of bass fishing.

I wish you two would quit with the night fishing talk I'm going to miss it this month because of work. Breaking my heart.

I have a friend who just buys another dog every time his wife gets the "itch"

I have noticed very little difference in the performance of Lowrance units no matter what the water color is.

There's plenty of grass up right now, it just hasn't topped out. So much so that it's already impossible to fish a shallow running crank in some areas and I've had to downsize rattletraps to keep it above the grass. Make no mistake, there's still a lot of growth still to go on the grass and it will help clean the water but with the amount of rain and tides we've had it will be a while for it to clear and I agree 100% with BrianinMD that it is not a clear water river although it has it's days.

It never really clears up until the grass gets up. Couple days of calm weather will get rid of the wind/rain added stain but it's not a clear water river.

Finished up the rod that Scott built a grip for me for. This is the grip he posted a few weeks ago. I put it on a Phenix USB790H blank with the alps textouch seat, Fuji guides in a spiral wrap with 30* transition, used fish hawk candy apple thread with no CP to finish it all out. I’ve paired it with a Tatula HD. Wish we had some sunshine to get better pics but on this January 102nd this will have to do.

I use a Garmin Virb Elite and like it. Very easy to use and shoots quality shots. I like having the wrist remote so I can start/stop filming or take a picture without going to the camera. Does not capture sound well without an external mic, but that works out well for me because a lot of my videos I couldn't post if it did.

Thanks Mumbly. I found it but your explanation is better. @KayakFish107 You deserve the deal of the day award. $8 for whopper ploppers with free shipping. Wow!

Thanks WRB. That is what they are. Kinda like these skirts that I pour (dont sell) and melt on to baits.

Adding to the "fish it all the way" idea: After you've reeled the lure all the way back to you, Make sure to give your lure a pause before lifting it out of the water. You only have to watch a couple of 5lbers swim away to get the full impression of why you should pause. Sometimes that pause is just enough to get a following fish to commit and inhale the lure. Even if you don't SEE a fish following, that fish may be just out of sight and ready to attack.

Was able to get out this afternoon, found bass on their post spawn pattern spots. Buck brush with shad blown in it hitting the frog and on a few humps in 10 or lil less water with cranks. Biggest being a spawned out female that was just over 3 pounds. Most being just over or just under 14 inches. Landed 23, keep 7, missed are lost like more then I want to admit too, brings up a good point to remember slow down check my hooks lol. Hope this helps somebody.

This may be my new rig this year...

Don't let us discourage you, just be aware of the possible hassles and problems.

I like using both. I use hollow body frogs more tho. Starting using these last year. Z man Pop Shadz. 5" version. They float and have a cupped mouth, making it pop and spit water. You rig them weightless Texas rig. They made from ElaZtech plastic, the same durable stretchy plastic used on the TRD's. They really excel in lily pads. They work around and through the openings very nicely. And they have a great hookup ratio.

in florida a belly boat is what gators call lunch...........

Just an update-- I finally found a cover to fit my boat. Ordered it this P.M. Thanks again for all the input everyone. Jim

I'm finally heading to the Bend this weekend. I will be fishing around 6-mile and Housen with the other 10000 boats. I will post a report good or bad. Y'all be safe out there.

Not only does it make you a better fisherman, it defines you as a better person. Just like the guy driving $100K Tesla with the "Impeach Him Now" bumper sticker who cut me off today, buying more expensive things shows that you are a better person. Smarter, better looking, less suseptive to marketing plans & advertising gimmicks, just an overall higher quality person. A side benefit of buying the most expensive products available is that you no longer have to have respect for others or follow societies rules of etiquette. That is for all those other slubs...

First day on one of the smallmouth lakes of the year for me on Monday. It was a grind like I expected, but still managed to catch some. My biggest of the day had a sizable crappie it was working on digesting.

10 pounds, 5 ounces on the scale beating my personal best by a lot. Booyah Bankroll Jig in Money YUM Craw Chunk in Craw

Needed a little rain to pump some fresh water into the ponds and put a stain in them. Didn't get as much as I wanted, but got enough to get them biting better. Managed 31 in a couple hours walking banks in 57-59 degree water. Surface temps had jumped about 7-8 degrees, helped by both a warm rain and a few days late in the week that topped the 70 degree mark. Last pic is my standard tackle when banking it: One rod/reel, a small box with a couple extra baits tossed in my pocket and a pair of pliers.

Bluebasser's and Croakhunter's assessment is spot on. Angles matter.